I’ve finished posting all the birth announcements that were emailed to me over the last few months — thank you to all the parents who did so! I’m now starting to work through the list of new babies I’ve seen in my Instagram feed over the fall and winter, and will be sharing their names and name stories as their mamas allow.

First up: the newest baby in a family whose names I’ve long loved! Kelsi’s older children are the swoony Finnian Doyle and Gemma Ruth, and when I saw she was expecting again, I couldn’t wait to see what she and her hubby chose! I wasn’t disappointed! Little Bridget Marie “Bridey” joined the family recently, and I just feel like sighing with contentment over these beautifully named children.

Kelsi writes,

“1. Finnian Doyle — Doyle is my dad and my brother’s middle name. I wish I could ask my grandma where she got it, but we have no idea! I wanted to pass it on to my son and wanted a saint name as a first name. So after lots of suggestions from me and lots of vetoes from my husband, we landed on Finnian after St Finnian of Clonard. My husband’s grandmother has a strong connection to her Irish roots and the name seemed to honor that as well. We also liked the nickname “Finn” for its literary nod to Huckleberry Finn.

2. Gemma Ruth — When we were naming Gemma we decided we’d stick to the “formula” we had used for Finn: a saint first name and a family middle name. When I was pregnant with Finn, I was having terrible terrible headaches. Frustrated that I couldn’t take anything stronger than Tylenol and rubbing peppermint oil, I looked up Saints I could petition to pray for relief from my headache. St. Gemma Galgani came up. In truth, it was the first I had heard of her, but I loved her story and her name!! I asked her often to intercede for me. So when we found out I was pregnant with a girl, we decided to use Gemma. Ruth is my husband’s grandma’s name and just one of my biblical women.

3. Bridget Marie — We really like St. Brigid of Ireland and had heard the traditional nickname of “Bridey.” The nickname gave a literary nod to one of my husband’s and my favorite novels, Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. But we decided we really liked the “-get” pronunciation better than “Brigid.” Marie is for my maternal grandmother and Mother Mary.”

How awesome is all of this?? I love it! I love each name, and the reason behind each one as well. How great is Kelsi’ love of Ruth: she’s “just one of my biblical women”?! Love it!

Congratulations to Kelsi and her husband and big sibs Finnian and Gemma, and happy birthday Baby Bridget!! Kelsi said it was okay to link to her Instagram — hope on over to see her beautiful babies!

My book, Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady (Marian Press, 2018), is available to order from ShopMercy.org and Amazon — perfect for the expectant parents, name enthusiasts, and lovers of Our Lady in your life!

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"Choose your names in a joyful way. / Think of the Saints and holy things, / And then just watch how your heart sings / When the name meant for you to choose / Comes to your mind, as you do muse!"
~ name wisdom from my Mom, an Irish poet

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